UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory

			Biosphere Reserve Information
			Colombia SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARTA


	General Description		The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Biosphere Reserve and National Park overlook the Caribbean coast of northern Colombia. Most of the Reserve (675,000 hectares) lies in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the remaining 56,250 hectares comprises Tayrona National Park. The area stretches from the Caribbean coast with a finely preserved coral reef, extensive beaches, several bays and inlets up to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with marked relief and steep slopes. Independent of the Andean chain, it rises to a height of 5,775 meters above sea level, at a distance of only 42 km from the Caribbean coast. The snowy peaks called ’tundra‘ are considered sacred. Vegetation ranges from sub-hygrophyte to snow levels and includes cloud forest and high barren plains. Three types of vegetation can be seen at Tayrona’s National Park: forest/matorral with dry forest and humid forest. Some of them are being modified by peasants engaged in agriculture and cattle grazing, and also extraction of high-value timber, especially in the coffee belt. Of the estimated population of 211,000 (1999) some 26,500 indigenous peoples, particularly the Arhuaco, Kogui and Wiwa live in indigenous reserves, but also a considerable number live outside these areas. Ethnic groups try to develop a policy for the recovery of their ancestral lands in order to strengthen their culture and assist their traditional conservation practices . There is no management policy of the reserve as a whole and the zonation is not clear. However, scientific diagnosis and technical assessments have contributed to the elaboration of a sustainable development plan with programmes in the Sierra Nevada National Park, in agro-ecology, fish-farming and environmental health. The area is of great archaeological value particularly with sites as the ’Ciudad Perdida‘ and many artifacts of Tayrona culture.
	Major ecosystem type		Tropical dry or deciduous forests; Mixed mountain and highland (mountains tropical and xerophytic forest and paramo)
	Major habitats & land cover types		Tropical humid forest; tropical dry forest; highland forest; dry shrubs forests; paramos; permanent snow areas; glaciers; agroecosystems
	Location		10°01' to 11°20'N; 72°36' to 74°13'W
	Area (hectares)
	Total		2,115,800
	Core area(s)		405,000
	Buffer zone(s)
	Transition area(s) when given		1,710,800
	Altitude (metres above sea level)		0 to +5,879
	Year designated		1979
	Administrative authorities		Unidad Administrativa Especial del Sistema de Parques Nacionales Naturales, Resguardo Indígena Kogui y Arhuaco, y CORPOCESAR, CORPOGUAJIRA Y CORPAMAG

	Brief description		Biophysical and physico-chemical studies of lagoons Soil studies Solid waste characterization and volume study Marine turtle conservation project Resident and migratory birds monitoring and control Natural resource use of the Wiwas indigenous population Coprophagic bugs (Scarabidae) spatial-temporal succession in an altitudinal gradient. Population dynamics of the pink flamingo (Phoenicopterus rubber rubber) Coastal Caribbean wetlands protection and restoration. Identification of natural areas susceptible to form part of the National Protected Areas System Bird identification in the Los Flamingos Flora and Fauna Sanctuary Management alternatives for young fishes Population dynamics of the cormorant species Phalacrocorax olivaceus olivaceus Birds inventory in the Los Flamingos Flora and Fauna Sanctuary Diagnosis and management plan of the mangroves of the Riohacha municipality in the Guajira Land tenure study in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park Peasants’ characterization in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park Cleaning-up areas evaluation of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park and the Kogi-Wiwa-Arhuaco refuge site Social characterization of the Los Flamingos Flora and Fauna Sanctuary Legal strategy for the cleaning-up of the tax system of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park Ecotourism management regulation plan
	*Specific variables...*
	Abiotic		Abiotic factors.
	Biodiversity		Forest systems, lagoon systems, plankton, restoration/rehabilitation/redevelopment.
	Socio-economic		Agriculture/Production systems, archaeology/paleontology, social/socio-economic aspects.
	Integrated monitoring		Management issues, planning and zoning measures/zonation.

	Contact address		Gabriel Tirado Unidad Administrativa Especial de Parques Nacionales Naturales Carrera 10 No. 20 - 30 Bogotá D.C. Colombia
	Telephone		(57.1) 3155583438 PBX 353 2400
	Fax		PBX 353 2400
	E-mail		Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta contact
	Web site		www.parquesnacionales.gov.co

			n.a.

Last updated: 3/27/2011